Gary Rowett admitted that when he rested Birmingham City skipper Paul Robinson for the Brentford match the identity of the next captain did not immediately leap out to him.

Eventually he alighted upon Paul Caddis who, he felt leads by example, but also who might respond well to the chains of office.

“I hoped it would inspire him to be a little more aggressive defensively and take that leadership role,” Rowett explained at the time.

The full back has been skipper for the last four matches and the results speak for themselves, two wins and two draws - though that has much to do with a return to the 4-2-3-1 system and the emergence of Rob Kiernan at centre back.

But has the armband inspired the Scot to be, well...more inspirational? The stats suggest it has.

We compared the past four games with the four before Caddis was given the captaincy and Opta’s figures point to a greater degree of defensive responsibility.

Verdict: Caddis’s totals in all four categories are better with the armband than without, especially in terms of tackles where there has been a significant increase.

Rowett’s original hope was that Caddis would get tighter to opponents and the increase in tackles suggest he has done that.

He has also hit three times as many clearances. Opta’s definition of a clearance is: “A defensive action where a player kicks the ball away from his own goal with no intended recipient of the ball.”

That suggests Caddis is taking a more safety-first approach in defence while his contribution going forward seems as high as ever.

As ever with statistics there are usually more variables and a deeper story than bare numbers can tell, but if Rowett wanted more aggressive defence from his right back, it looks like that’s been delivered.